More Moat Mountain Magic

“What’s a good hike?”, Caroline asked. Not too long, not too short, not too hard or easy, definitely not too crowded. I suggested Moat Mountain so off we went. Hiking with one of my daughters – what could be better? Little did I know how much of a treat we were in for.

…but even better blueberry picking!

A few years ago I had taken a hike on the Moats before and really enjoyed it. At the time I was on my own and did a loop hike to North Moat Mountain, starting and ending at Diana’s Baths. This time we decided to leave one car at Diana’s Baths, then drive down to the southern trailhead on Passaconaway Road and do the entire Moat Mountain Trail south to north, a distance of just under 10 miles and cresting all 3 Moat Mountain peaks: South, Middle, and North. Since none of them are on the 4000-footer list, they don’t draw the peak-bagger crowd, which suits me.Not only was the weather perfect this August day but this year has been particularly good for blueberries, and the top of South Moat was simply overflowing with ripe berries. It turns out that both South Moat and North Moat are popular destinations but the trail between the two is much more lightly used. I’ll never forget the tremendous number of spider webs that were suspended across that section of trail. We had to wave a stick up and down ahead of us just to keep from being covered in webs … and spiders. It reminded me of the scene in The Hobbit when they’re in Mirkwood.Views from all 3 peaks are wonderful although if you only have time for one, the south mountain is the shorter hike with more interesting rock formations…and berries if you’re lucky.

Lucy Brook has some lovely spots that don’t get the crowds of Diana’s Baths

On the way down there’s this pretty little waterfall about a mile upstream from Diana’s Baths. And when the hike was over we were just a few miles from that Mexican restaurant in Conway. Yum!

Later this summer I visited the nearby Moat Mountain rockhounding site, but that will be the subject of another blog. Happy travels!